Tourism chiefs in trophy snaps ban
‘Inappropriate’ images taken off website
THEY show sportsmen proudly posing with pheasants, hares, geese and pigeons they have bagged.
But the trophy pictures have been deemed ‘inappropriate’ by Scotland’s national tourist agency – and VisitScotland has now removed them from its website.
The move has angered supporters of traditional country sports, who argue that the pictures show a legal activity which generates millions of pounds of tourist revenue.
The British Association of Shooting and Conservation accused VisitScotland of a ‘knee-jerk response’.
A spokesman added: ‘The photos are a reflection of these legal activities that are a normal part of rural life. We would urge Visit Scotland to change their policy.’
The wildlife in the photos were shot by clients of Mirani Hunting, a small business which listed its services – alongside the pictures – on the VisitScotland website.
The business listing, provided by VisitScotland for free, had read: ‘Mirani Hunting is a small family-run business specialising in quality field sports. We organise hunting, fishing, and tourism: your satisfaction is our aim!’
The row started after self-styled ‘equality and human rights advocate’ Rob McDowall launched an online campaign over the images on social media site Twitter.
Along with showing a copy of the listing, Mr McDowall wrote: ‘Truly horrible to see @VisitScotland advertising Mirani Hunting on VS website.’
He later complained of ‘smiling selfies with killed animals’ and added: ‘Can’t see how this was ever acceptable for our tourism agency to be advertising in this way.’
Mirani Hunting has now taken its listing off VisitScotland’s website.
A VisitScotland spokesman confirmed: ‘The images went against our terms and conditions. Pictures of dead animals are inappropriate for a consumer-facing website.’
Marco Mirani, who is Italian but based in Peterhead, said of the advert: ‘They said it was offensive but it is what we do. We take people out shooting.’